Mr Monk and The Tabby Kitten
by vanillabuzz
Summary: Adrian Monk makes a new, furry friend.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Monk or any of it's characters.

**Author's Note:** I recently became a Monk fan (a couple of months at the most) but I just love this show. I have plenty of OCDs and phobias, so I see myself in Monk a lot and that is the main reason why I first got hooked on the show. Needless to say this is my first Monk fic. I read the first chapter of a fic in which Monk also got a kitten and even though I didn't read the rest and I can't comment because of it, I saw a lot of people complain that it was out of character, especially the way the rest of the story developed and how characters like Randy and Sharona were written. I want to try and make it a bit more IC, but we'll see, I'm not even sure I can pull it off.

--

Touching every pole and parking meter he walked past, Adrian made his way back home from the supermarket. He carried a paper bag--he had asked for plastic!--with a couple of last minute cravings. It was late at night, so the supermarket had been partially empty which was always a good thing. He didn't have to come across kids begging for their parents to buy them a treat, even if they already stuffed their faces with a chocolate, smudged candy around their mouths. He always felt tempted to toss a wipe at them, but many parents felt offended by it for some reason.

Adrian came suddenly to a stop as an orange tabby kitten ran out of an alley. He attempted to walk around the kitten and continue his way back home, but for some reason the cat shifted to one side or the other, sidestepping just as he did, getting on the way each time. The cat only watched the man, tilting its head curiously. Adrian pulled down his jacket sleeve and covered his mouth with it, stepping over the kitten and quickly continuing his path home. As he finally arrived, he rushed into the building and into his apartment. He had to change his shoes, the cat had probably rubbed against them and God knows all the fleas and other parasites it had.

He put the paper bag on the kitchen island and headed straight to his bedroom, removing his jacket and nicely hanging it back in his closet. Then the shoes came off and went straight to the garbage, along with his socks for good measure. A hot shower was of course in order, and by the time he came out and dressed himself in his pajamas, he was stopped on his way to the kitchen by a loud meow. He looked around for a moment, there was no way the cat could be here. It was probably in his head after such a traumatic experience. He would have to tell Dr. Kroger.

Taking out the few items from the paper bag, he once again heard the meow and, somehow, he was sure it wasn't in his head. He peeked out the window. Could the cat have followed him to his house? There was nothing outside. As soon as he closed the window, he heard the meow a third time and froze. It wasn't until there was a fourth meow--thank God, an even number--that he slowly walked to his front door, cautiously opening it and finding the orange tabby kitten sitting right outside. His eyes widened at the sight and he closed the door faster than you can say meow. He should probably call Natalie, this wasn't right. Before he could do anything else, his eyes traveled down the door and to the small crack between it and wooden floor. A small paw was trying to reach inside.

Adrian ran to get his telephone and dialed Natalie's cellphone. A cheerful Natalie answered, but she didn't finish greeting Adrian when he was already panicking and asking her to get there.

"Mr. Monk," Natalie spoke in her most soothing tone "slow down. What did you say?"

"I said there's a cat in my house, it wouldn't stop following me down the street and now it's inside the building, it keeps making sounds and it keeps sticking it's paw under my door."

"So it's not _inside_ your house."

"But it is trying to break in! You have to come down here Natalie, just take it away."

"Mr. Monk, I'm on vacations, remember? I'm hours away from you."

"That's okay, I'll wait."

"You're not seriously thinking I'm going back to San Francisco just to shoo a cat away from you, are you?"

"Then I'll call animal control."

"Mr. Monk, it's a cat not a crocodile!"

"Please, Natalie, can you _please_ come get rid of it? You can go back to your vacation after that."

Natalie sighed on the other end of the line. She usually did everything Adrian asked her to, he was her boss and friend, but this was something she wasn't willing to do, especially since the cat wasn't even _inside_ Monk's house. "Look, I'll be back in a couple of days and I'm sure the cat will be gone by then. Goodnight, Mr. Monk!"

"But Natalie--" The dialtone rang out from the phone and Adrian pulled it away from his ear, staring at it for a moment before setting it back in its place. He was on his own on this one.

He slowly made his way to the door. The cat wasn't meowing anymore, and he couldn't see the paw sticking in. Very slowly he opened the door, peeking out and finding the cat sitting primly a foot away with its tail around its feet.

"Get out of here," Adrian told the cat who only tilted its head at him "shoo! Out!"

The cat meowed loudly in response, its little ears and whiskers shifting back at his demanding meow. "I'm not sure what that means," Adrian answered as he slowly pushed the door closed, but stopped before the doorknob clicked. So maybe the cat was filthy, but it wasn't an actual threat. He felt bad for a moment. After all, it was a small little creature, it wasn't going to hurt him. Not that he was willing to touch it, anyway. He finally closed the door and locked it, going back to his business in the kitchen.

A couple of hours later, as he was getting ready for bed, he decided to take a last peek outside. Very slowly, and trying not to make a sound, he unlocked and opened the door, finding the kitten asleep, curled up into a ball on the wooden floor and covering its nose with both paws, probably too cold by itself. Adrien sighed at the view and shut the door again, remaining next to it for a moment before heading to his bedroom. He surely had an old blanket or cloth to toss over the kitten. He did find an old throw blanket, he could just burn the thing once the cat left.

Quietly opening the door one last time, he stepped out and covered the kitten with the old warm blanket. He decided to just cover the whole kitten. He wasn't getting close to it, and the cat probably wouldn't mind being covered from head to tail since it was already covering its little face.

Adrian let out a content sigh and finally walked back into his place, ready to wash his hands a few times before going to bed. Hopefully the cat would be gone by the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

He couldn't quite remember why he was afraid of cats. They have parasites and their hair falls off. They have sharp claws too, but he couldn't exactly remember why he was afraid of cats themselves. Maybe he really wasn't, maybe for some reason he had asked Natalie--or Sharona, for that matter--to add them to his ever growing list of phobias. At least cats are hygienic, unlike dogs. They can learn to use toilets and don't make a mess when eating, they also wash themselves several times a day--just the way it should be--and are not noisy. They don't drool or use your shoes as chew toys. Maybe he wasn't that afraid of cats after all.

When the morning came, Adrian woke up to his alarm clock as usual. Putting on his slippers, he just had to check if the cat was still outside. As he opened the door, he found the kitten sleeping on top of the blanket he had used to cover it the night before. The corner of his mouth curled into a soft smile. It really was a nice little animal, but there was no way he was touching it. It was probably hungry by now, but Adrian definitely did not have pet food. He decided to take a shower and get dressed before walking down to the supermarket, moving away from the front door, before he paused. If he fed the cat maybe it would really stay for good, but he just couldn't let it starve to death by his door. He was quiet on his way out, and the cat certainly didn't seem to notice. It was just a quick stop at the supermarket. A small bag of kitten food and a couple of small bowls would do. It wasn't like he planned on keeping the animal.

On his way back, as he walked past the alley where the kitten had come out from the night before, he figured perhaps it would be a good idea to wrap the cat in the blanket and take it back to that alley. There were, however, no signs of any other cats in it. He couldn't help but stop to investigate. It was in his nature. He pulled up the neck of his coat, trying to cover his mouth and nose from any unpleasant odors. However, the alley was empty except for the pieces of garbage scattered everywhere and a single box. He crouched down and took out his pen, moving the box just enough to see the side of it. He found a couple of holes on two of the sides, probably for an animal to breathe. Could someone have abandoned the kitten all by itself in that box? It was a possibility. There were no feces--though he would have probably had an anxiety attack if he had seen any--that indicated more cats. Who would leave a little kitten like that? In the rain and cold, with no food or shelter, just like that to die. And then it hit him. He was thinking about doing the exact same thing to the cat only a moment ago.

When he returned home, the kitten was still curled up, sleeping. It only woke up as Adrian opened the door to his apartment. "Give me just a moment." The kitten meowed loudly as Adrian closed the door. Surely he had a box to put the kitten in. He looked through the kitchen cabinets, finding one where he had extra supplies of cleaning products. He certainly could use that one and throw it away later. As he opened the door again, the kitten remained seated on the old blanket. He set the box on the floor and pulled out a pair of latex gloves from his pocket, taking the blanket with the kitten still on it and putting it in the box. Where there any veterinary clinics nearby? He had never paid attention to that type of thing before. Would they take the kitten?

He had to look up online to find veterinary clinics in the area, which wasn't so hard. As soon as he found the website of the nearest clinic, he remembered the building. And here he had always thought some eccentric, creepy dog owner had decided to build their home in the shape of a giant dog house.

He walked into the clinic looking like a lost foreigner. He would be fine as long as they didn't have insects in this place. Or frogs. Or rabbits, mice, snakes, monkeys...

"Hello, sir. May I help you?" A young, blond girl wearing purple scrubs asked from behind the counter.

Adrian looked around, scanning the place a moment before heading to the counter and setting the box on it. "I came to leave this. Him. Her. It. Just take it." He pushed the box toward her side of the counter, making the kitten roll on the blanket.

The young girl looked at Adrian curiously, then at the box with the kitten in it. She immediately reached for the cat and pulled it out gently. "Hello there, little guy." She spoke softly, lifting the kitten's tail and taking a good look. Adrian shuddered at the sight. She wasn't even wearing gloves and she was touching the cat where animals shouldn't be touched.

"It's a she," the woman set the kitten back in the box "why don't you keep her? Cats are great companions."

"I'm afraid of cats."

"Then why did you have her?"

"She followed me."

"But you carried her in just now."

"Can't you just keep her?"

The woman shook her head, her eyes on the kitten the whole time as she rubbed the cat's chin, getting soft purrs in return. "We have way too many kittens already, all of them waiting to be adopted. I don't think we can afford another one."

"Why don't _you_ keep her?"

"I have three large dogs already."

"Aren't there more doctors in this place? Can't _anyone_ just keep her?"

She held the box in one hand and the kitten in the other. "Follow me," she told Adrian as she left the counter and headed down a hallway with several doors. Adrian followed and scanned the parts of the place that had remained unseen before. At least the clinic was quite clean. They walked into one of the exam rooms and the woman set the kitten on the examining table.

"Are you sure you want to do that, she's probably infested with fleas."

She shook her head again at that and took the kitten in her hand, examining it. "I don't think she has any fleas," she took a good look and the kitten did seem clean "we'll give her something to kill any fleas she could have, just in case." She continued with the check-up, testing the kitten's reflexes and pupils. Listening to her heartbeat, her stomach for any noises that could mean she had worms. She checked her temperature with an anal thermometer, to which Adrian only covered his mouth at the sight, making sure to remove the latex gloves first.

"She looks pretty healthy. She's lucky you found her. I would just like to give her a couple of shots she needs, something to deworm her and something else just in case she has fleas, then you can take her home."

Adrian waved both hands in front of him, refusing to have anything else to do with the cat. "I'm not taking her home, I don't _do_ pets."

The young woman ignored Adrian's claims about not taking the cat and decided to go ahead with what had to be done. Adrian only stood and watched as the kitten was fed something that looked like toothpaste and definitely not tasty. Then the shot came and he almost ran out of there at the sigh of the needle, but he remained still, standing almost in the corner of the room. The kitten meowed loudly at the first shot, and Adrian couldn't help but wince at that.

"Wait! You're hurting her," he took a step forward, reaching out to touch the kitten but stopping half way to it.

"I'm not. That's for her own good." The woman couldn't help but smile at his sudden reaction, intervening on the cat's behalf. Somehow she didn't believe his claims of not caring about the kitten. "There," she added something that looked like unguent to the back of the kitten's neck "that should kill all fleas, if she has any." The phone back at the reception started ringing and the woman excused herself for a moment, leaving Adrian and the kitten alone. His first thought was to run out if he could, surely a veterinary clinic wouldn't toss a kitten out, so the animal would be safe. He turned in the direction of the door and then back to the examining table, finding the kitten staring at him.

"Don't look at me like that. You'll be fine."

The kitten tilted her head and meowed, a sound Adrian had started becoming familiar with.

"Sorry about that," the woman walked back into the room "my name is Cindy, by the way." She offered her hand to shake Adrian's, but he didn't have any wipes on him, so he had to decline the shake. "Okay," she chuckled "well, she's all set. She just had her first vaccination so you can't shower her in a couple of days, not showering her yet will also help the Advantage to make effect."

"Advantage?"

"The thing on her neck? It will kill anything she might have crawling around there, but I assure you, she's clean. You can still give her a warm bath in two or three days, though." She lifted the kitten and offered her to Adrian who refused to touch her at first. "She's yours, you have to touch her at some point!"

Reluctantly, and without any gloves on, he accepted the kitten. He could feel her little heart beating against his hand, and he felt the warmth of her belly. The kitten started purring and he actually softened at that.

"Follow me," Cindy walked around the table and headed back to the reception, a surprised Adrian followed, all too busy studying the soft little animal in his hand. "What's your name?" Cindy asked as she started a new file for Adrian's kitten, filling up a vaccination card that she later handed to him, and all the papers needed. "And what's her name?" She nodded at the cat, but Adrian only shook his head. "We'll leave that blank for now, but you better think of a name so she starts responding to it. She has to be a couple of months old at the most, so she needs a special type of food. You can feed her some milk, but it is better if you start her on water soon. And of course we'll need to schedule her to be spayed."

As Cindy continued talking, Adrian was lost studying the kitten. She was actually cute, she was innocent and just plain adorable. She had followed him for a reason. The kitten looked up at him with her big blue eyes, reaching out to touch him with a paw. It made him smile and the kitten meowed, almost as if responding to Adrian's reaction.

"Trudy," he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry?"

"Her name's Trudy."

"Trudy," Cindy repeated and finished filling the papers.


End file.
